It took a while, but Side Scenario VIII has been written (finally). I'm also lowering the amount of Side Scenarios from Twenty Five down to fifteen, for several reasons, including the fact that coming up with ideas is hard :(. If anyone has any suggestions, that would be greatly appreciated.

VIII- Summary: The Events leading to Ace ending up in Valhalla and becoming SnakeEyes.

AN1- This takes place way before the events of the game, and has four main focus points (Rem, Cinque, King and Joker)- and details the fight between Class Zero and the Lulusath soldiers. Character death ahead. I have wanted to write this one for ages (Since Side Scenario II in fact. Only know did I find a way of writing it, though it is not as good as I hoped it would be)

Hope you enjoy!

Side Scenario VIII- Fragments

Rem

"Do you want to be a L'Cie?" Celestia asked the sixteen members of Class Zero, "It is pretty much the only way that you will be able to stop Finis and save the world from its fate."

Rem watched the class slowly try and make their decisions on whether they would sacrifice their freedom in order to save the world. Meanwhile, Rem had already made her owm choice on the matter.

Yes, she was going to do it. She wanted to protect Machina, who was always protecting her. She was doing it to save the people of the world which she deeply cared for. Most importantly, she was doing it in order to save the future from it's present demise.

Which is why she was the first person to say "Yes, I will be a L'Cie."

Celestia looked at the young woman opposite her. Whilst she didn't agree with the young woman for throwing her life away like that, Celestia understood why she wanted it to do it.

Rem then felt the power of the L'Cie coursing through her body, as her sense of self began to fade.

She was a L'Cie now. Bound to the Will of the Susaku Crystal, which wanted the world to be saved. She watched as the other fifteen people in the room with her also choose to become L'Cie with her.

Good. That would mean that the world will more likely be saved, thus fufiling the will of the Susaku crystal. Then, their focus will be complete.

Cinque

She saw the Lulusath Army grouping opposite the small army of L'Cie as the latter prepared to save the world from its inevitable fate.

Cinque was the fast to charge forward, eager to fulfil the duty the crystal had given her. She swung her mace gracefully in the air, before smacking three soldiers in the face.

However, another sixteen came to replace those three. Cinque didn't care now that they were outnumbered. She was fulfilling the will of the Susaku Crystal, and that's all that mattered.

Again, she swung her mace, before dodging out of the way of a Lulusath soldier's blow. She sighed, as she managed to escape death. However, one of her class mates wasn't so lucky. Tiz had fallen down to the ground, grasping her staff tightly. Blood poured out of two gaping holes in her chest, staining the ground a deep vermillion.

Cinque could faintly hear Tiz mumble Joker's name before she breathed her last, before she started to crystallize. Cinque took her Phantoma without even thinking. Anything was needed if the Lulusath army was to be defeated, and peace brought back to Orience.

Another scream echoed in the air, and Cinque turned around. Machina was hanging on the edge of a Lulusath soldier's sword, the blade stained a deep red. Machina slumped, and stopped moving, before he too turned into crystal. Rem quickly took his Phantoma, and then charged towards the soldier, wanting to kill it for making her task to complete her focus harder.

That small moment of distraction cost Cinque dearly. A spray of bullets entered her chest, stunning (but not killing her). That was all that was needed.

Cinque fell backwards, onto a Lulusath soldier. The soldier turned around, before swinging his massive blade at Cinque, slicing her mace in half. The soldier swung his sword again at the defenceless Cinque, finally putting her out of her misery.

King

He watched the girl with long brown hair fall to the floor and turn into crystal, before King fired another bullet at the soldier that killed her. That was three deaths now, following the girl and boy with black hair. King hoped that he wouldn't be the next one to share that grim fate.

He knew what his goal was. He had to protect his colleagues and classmates, and those who shared his focus. Which is why he shoved Nine out of the way when the latter almost got stabbed by a Lulusath soldier, sustaining a shoulder injury in the process. Nine smiled, and gave King the thumbs up, before quickly jumping back into the fight.

Luckily, he was quickly spotted by Cater, who cast a healing spell on him. King felt the shoulder wound heal up rapidly, before it finally shut. Now it was his turn to smile, and give someone the thumbs up, before he went back into the fight.

By then, someone else had crystallized, and another soldier had been lost in the fray. King tried to remember the girl with the straight silver hair, but he just couldn't. Whoever she was, she was a friend. That was the only thing that King could remember.

Meanwhile, the sounds of fighting filled the air, as King tried to concentrate on his next target. He needed to find the L'Cie Arbitor. If that thing could be felled, then maybe the soldiers would be gone. Maybe Finis would not be enacted out. Then the will of the crystal would be enacted out.

However, this was not meant to be. As King charged down a corridor, trying to reach the Arbitor, he was surrounded by a group of Lulusath soldiers. King tried with desperation to get himself out of certain doom, knowing full well that he would fail in the attempt. He felt several bullets and a sword enter his chest, before he fell face first onto the ground, crystallizing in the process.

Joker

Joker lay on the ground, looking in the distance. He had failed to complete his focus, and he knew that he was slowly dying. But then, he wasn't the only one.

He could faintly see Queen slumped beside a pillar, a group of soldiers slowly approaching her. Hindered by her many injuries, she was obviously too weak to try and complete their shared focus.

Next to her, Rem was trying to fight against her attackers. One dagger was discarded on the floor of the Palace of All Magic, along with one of Rem's arms. However, she was putting up a valiant effort to stop the Lulusath army from destroying the world, but even then Joker could see that she would fail her focus. None of them would.

The will of the Crystal would never be fulfilled.

Joker suddenly heard a Lulusath warrior scream, before an explosion of light filled the room. Ace. Ace was still alive. Ace was putting up a fight, and he wasn't that badly injured.

Maybe... Maybe... Orience would be saved after all.

Card after card was thrown at the soldiers and one by one the soldiers fell. Ace continued to dodge every single soldier's attack, before he struck back with his pack of killing cards. Dodge, attack, kill. Dodge, attack, kill. This pattern continued, whilst Joker watched.

However, Ace wasn't killing fast enough. The mass of soldiers was growing increasing in size quicker than Ace could kill them. The horde slowly started to approach him, trying to end the last capable soldier so that they could enact Finis, and destroy the world.

Joker wouldn't see the conclusion to this fight, however. Slowly, the world around him was growing darker and darker, and the sound of fighting slowly started to fade. Joker knew it was time. He could feel his heart start to slow down, and the increasing difficulty in breathing.

Finally, it would all be over.

AN2- Terms borrowed from the Final Fantasy Wiki. Joker's was written before King's, so if there are any contradictions point them out.

Thank you for reading! :D

TMGxx